Anand Mahindra appointed as honorary envoy

Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra Group, has been appointed Honorary Ambassador of Foreign Investment Promotion for Korea at a special ceremony which took place during the Korea Investment Road Show held in Mumbai. He was conferred with this title in the presence of several dignitaries, including senior ministers and officials of the South Korean government. As Honorary Ambassador, Mahindra will promote economic ties between India and Korea and advise corporate India on potential investment opportunities in South Korea. “I am deeply honoured to be appointed the Honorary Ambassador of Foreign Investment Promotion for Korea. Both countries contribute significantly to the global economy and have a strong bilateral trade relationship going back several decades. I hope to utilise this platform to foster closer economic ties between our two nations and promote investment in South Korea,” said Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra Group. “With his sound knowledge of the global economy and as one of corporate India’s most prominent voices, Mahindra is the ideal choice for this role. Despite the increasing trade volume between Korea and India, the mutual investment activities are hardly sufficient enough. As Korea-India cooperation has evolved into a robust and strategic partnership, we need to create a platform for expansion of more investments in order to further strengthen such ties,” said Byeong-Cheol Lee, Director General for Cross-border Investment, Ministry of Knowledge Economy. The Korea Investment Road Show 2011 focused on FDI promotion by the government of the Republic of Korea, highlighting emerging industries, industrial growth and promotion through the Free Economic Zone. The show aimed to promote greater investment between both countries. It may be recalled that India and South Korea have signed the CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) which was implemented from 1st January, 2010. After the implementation of the free trade pact, the two-way trade between the countries has grown by about 45 per cent during January-November 2010 to US$ 15.6 billion. Both parties have since announced measures to increase trade between the two countries to US$30 billion by 2014.